ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith revealed that former President Barack Obama privately called him before the 2024 election to discuss his influence, but refused to appear on his podcast, a pattern Smith says exposes how Democratic leaders operate behind closed doors.
Smith dropped the disclosure during an appearance on The Culture Table podcast, hosted by Tori Cooper, Sumatra Abernathy, and Ashley Christopher. He said it was the first time he had ever publicly acknowledged the call from Obama, which came after Smith used his self-titled show in July 2024 to call on Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign.
Smith told the podcast hosts that Obama reached out after he publicly questioned whether Biden could serve another four years, but that the former president declined to bring the conversation into the open.
"What I never told y'all, and I never brought up, is that Barack Obama called me too."
Smith went further, framing the private outreach as part of a broader pattern among Democratic leaders who want his ear but not his microphone.
"The content of that conversation will remain private because I will not violate trust. He called before the election to discuss my impact, but he didn't come on the podcast either."
That last line carried the weight of Smith's complaint. He named Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett as prominent Democrats who also declined to appear on his show. The implication was plain: party leaders wanted to manage him privately while avoiding any public exchange he controlled.
Smith's original remarks about Biden aired in July 2024, shortly before Biden suspended his presidential campaign. On his show, Smith had been blunt about what he saw on screen during the Biden-Trump television debate.
"Watching him walk, talk, speak, articulate himself, watching him drift and fade, mumble and stumble... Can you do this for four more years?"
Biden withdrew from the race shortly after, making way for Harris. Smith later said he voted for Harris, and then publicly expressed regret over that vote. He also criticized Biden for pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted on three federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to separate tax charges.
The timeline matters. Smith broke with the party line on Biden's fitness before most Democratic officials did. Obama's call came after that break, not before it. And Smith's willingness to say out loud what many in the party were only whispering earned him a private phone call from a former president, but not a public conversation.
That dynamic, powerful figures reaching out behind closed doors while leaving their critics exposed in public, is a familiar one for anyone who watches how Washington's political class manages dissent. Obama has acknowledged in other contexts that his public image and private conduct do not always align, a tension that runs through much of his post-presidential life.
Smith did not stop at revealing the Obama call. He offered a broader theory about why Democratic leaders have treated him the way they have, and he did not hold back.
"I think the Democrats fear my footsteps. I think they know that they have a legitimate fear that I can influence the election potentially."
Whether that assessment is accurate or inflated, the fact that Obama personally called him lends it at least some weight. Former presidents do not typically phone sports commentators to chat about the weather. Obama evidently believed Smith's platform mattered enough to warrant direct engagement, just not the kind of engagement that would leave a public record.
Smith connected this to what he described as a coordinated effort to undermine his credibility. He pointed to the National Association of Black Journalists, which gave him a "Thumbs Down" award at its annual convention in August. The NABJ gives the award to media figures it believes have not made a helpful contribution to the national debate. Smith reacted angrily on social media.
"The reality is that it was a personal hit job. We can sit up there and lollygag around and act like we don't know any better."
He followed that with a sharper point about the NABJ specifically.
"This is different. This is a journalism organization that didn't engage in journalism when it came to critiquing me."
Smith has also clashed publicly with Michelle Obama, and his willingness to take on figures across the Democratic establishment has made him a recurring target for progressive media voices. His feuds extend beyond politics, he has sparred publicly with comedian Kevin Hart, former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid, and NBA star LeBron James.
Smith's core grievance is not complicated. He argues that the same Democratic leaders who call him privately to discuss his influence then refuse to engage with him publicly, and in some cases actively work to discredit him.
"So it's like I'm taking these hits, and these are people that want to facilitate or assist in the facilitation of these narratives being disseminated and projected about me. But the same people calling me privately, having discussions upon which I have never violated. This is the first time anyone has ever heard me publicly state that Barack Obama called me."
That framing puts the burden on the Democratic establishment. If Obama thought Smith was irrelevant, he would not have called. If Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, and Crockett thought his platform did not matter, they would not have bothered declining his invitations. The private engagement suggests they take him seriously. The public distance suggests they do not want their voters to see them doing so.
The Obama orbit has faced scrutiny on multiple fronts in recent years, from legal disputes surrounding the Obama Presidential Center to questions about the former president's continued influence over party strategy. Smith's revelation adds another thread: the suggestion that Obama still works to shape political narratives, but only through channels he can control.
Smith has hinted at a future presidential run of his own, though he has not committed to a specific timeline or election cycle. Whether that ambition is serious or rhetorical, it underscores how far he has drifted from the Democratic establishment that once counted on his audience.
Not everyone has courted Smith privately. President Trump took a different approach entirely, posting on Truth Social earlier this summer and calling Smith "dumb as a rock," an "arrogant fool," and a "loudmouth huckster." Whatever else can be said about that style, at least it was public.
The gap between private conduct and public posture is a recurring theme in Democratic politics, and Smith's account fits the pattern neatly. Leaders who preach transparency and accountability reach for the phone when they want to manage a critic, and reach for surrogates when they want to discredit one.
When the most powerful people in a party will talk to you in private but won't face you in public, that tells you everything about who they're really trying to protect, and it isn't the audience.
